[Sozo]

Howdy all, I am just wondering If anyone has any ideas or experience in deterring Cooper’s hawks.
Of course I am all for the hawks having their meals too however twice in the last few I have had to watch a hawk catch and eat a varied thrush. The last one 5 minutes ago, and he took it 4 feet from me with all the bird screaming and such as you can imagine. Fricken hawks don’t dispatch them quickly like an owl either. The poor dears are screaming for some time.
I’ve been feeding these thrush for months, about 15 or so of them come at a time and they were finally losing some of their sketchiness allowing me to toss peanuts to them without flying away.
One neat side note is that there are two Cooper’s hawks, hunting in tandem. I didn’t know they did that. It’s very cool and they are stunning but they are proving lethal to the varied thrush which are a somewhat bulky, somewhat slower moving bird.
In any case, thanks for any ideas if they exist, I love watching the hawks I just want them to feed away from the feeders if possible.
Thank you.
Sozo

[jewill]

There are several articles online about humanely deterring hawks and other raptors from your backyard but most of them will drive you crazy with all the ads popping in and out (at least it does me). This one has no ads and covers everything you need to know. It’s from an American site but is just as relevant for Canada too. I hope it helps.

https://www.nwf.org/Magazines/National- ... mals/Hawks

[Sozo]

Obliged, it is a good article. Though I was more hopeful for a crafty trick of some sort that a birder learned from their great grandfather’s uncle
Cheers
Sozo